Category: Wall Cladding

PVC is widely understood as a heavy duty plastic-based material. The “V” in the middle of the acronym stands for Vinyl, which in the home siding market, represents the #1 selling material for most of the US. The PVC used for siding benefits from additives that resist color fading, and increase flexibility while not sacrificing durability.

For residential siding, vinyl is quite versatile. The horizontal plank (bevel) style is the most common cladding option for vinyl, but there are many more ways it is utilized as a cladding material for homes and buildings. On the east coast, its primary competition comes from wood and fiber cement, while stucco dominates the western part of the US.

Cost

Because R-Value is a key factor when considering any siding material, it is important to note that vinyl siding takes this into consideration and that this skews its pricing data.

Generally, costs for vinyl are based on material thickness, with most residential products ranging from .040 to .046 inches thick, or about 1/16th of an inch. At that level of thickness, the R-value is unsurprisingly low.

However, vinyl comes in one of two primary variations: hollow-back and insulated, or foam-back. The foam-back provides at least 3 times (or more) the R-value, while increasing the cost by at most 3 times, or usually doubling it.

In terms of costs, Vinyl siding averages between $3.00 and $8.50 per sq. ft. installed. This breaks down to $3.00 to $5.00 on average per sq. ft. for hollow-back and $5.00 to $8.50 per sq. ft. for foam-back and/or deluxe vinyl siding.

On average, hollow-back vinyl siding installation results in a $7,000 to $12,000 overall cost for a typical two bedroom sized home in America. Foam back averages $13,000 to $20,000 for the same property.

While “average” is a bit vague, we’ll break the costs down further (next section) and explain the factors that impact costs (2 sections below).

Costing Info – Part 2

As noted above, usually when you select vinyl siding for your home, you are selecting thickness and whether it is insulated material or not. These aren’t your only options, but they contribute to the costs more than other options.

The style type is another key factor – whether panels are vertical or horizontal and whether making use of shingle or split-log style. Often the nuances within a particular style type, along with contractor experience and product quality are the additional primary factors that impact costs.

To hopefully simplify things, let’s go with 2 examples of horizontal panels and what a job may entail to help understand the costing information more in depth:

Fired clay, aka Brick, dates back to colonial America as an exterior cladding for homes and buildings. It’s durability is well known, lasting over a hundred years on average. Being typically made up of clay, cement and gravel, it is the quintessential masonry material for construction.

Costing Information – Part 1

When brick is used in constructing a home, it provides structure to the frame. This however is not the same as using brick strictly as a siding material. When using brick as siding, a full layer of brick is added around the walls of the house. Thin brick may also be used, though it is obviously not as durable.

The average cost per sq. ft. for brick siding is $10.00 to $17.00 installed. Some thin brick options may be below that range. On a typical two bedroom American home, the overall cost ranges from $19,000 to $35,000. This is among the more expensive siding options, but its value and longevity certainly helps offset some of that higher initial cost.

Brick also has among the highest return on investment. On the low end, ROI is 83% and can go as high as 92% depending on the location.

Wood siding has many different options. In this guide, we’ll focus on styles such as Bevel, Board-and-Batten, and Split Log. There is also a more traditional cedar shingles and shakes siding option explained in the following article.

The many styles and options of wood siding are what other, competing materials such as Vinyl, Fiber Cement, Engineered Wood and other synthetic materials routinely mimic. Wood though, has a natural beauty that is very hard to match, and yet, with that comes the need for ongoing maintenance.

Two decades ago, wood siding used to be the #1 option for residential siding in America, and historically it has ruled over all others. But, not anymore. According to the 2015 U.S. Census data, Stucco and Vinyl are at the top, while wood has declined to just 3% of all new-single family homes having such cladding. Wood still offers much versatility, decent insulation and installation that doesn’t necessarily require as much expertise as some other siding options.

Pricing Information – Part 1

The labor costs for installing wood siding, particularly bevel and board-and-batten planks, is comparatively low (compared to fiber cement siding). A handyman can do the job, as can a do-it-yourselfer. Like all home improvement projects, a professional contractor will handle installation more efficiently and provide warranties on their service.

Wood siding averages between $4.00 and $14.00 per sq. ft. installed. Split log would be on the upper portion of this range, board-and-batten on the lower end with bevel in the middle. Lots of factors impact the costs for wood siding which we’ll address below.

A typical two bedroom sized home will generally cost between $9,000 and $30,000 for wood siding installed by a professional contractor. That’s for all 3 materials included, which is why the range is so great. If we break down the prices by type of style, it helps understand project costs more acutely.